it changed history. mitt romney's performance reminds me of the old jack benny routine. your money or your life the robber demanded. your money or your life? just a minute, benny last responded. i'm thinking. well, mitt romney has to think about which side he's on here, rush or the woman he was insulting. just a minute. i'm thinking. my guess is that the women of this country are going to remember. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. welcome to a special edition of "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. live tonight from the state capitol in montgomery, alabama. i've been privileged to be here with men and women of all ages from all walks of life marching to protect every american's right to vote. we are walking ten miles a day for five days. retracing the route of the historic 1965 march from selma to montgomery which ended on the steps of the capitol behind me.

a milestone in the fight for civil rights. tonight we'll talk about the scandal engulfing rush limbaugh. it's growing, despite his so-called apology. a major media company pulls out. is this the beginning of the end for rush lame bimbaugh? and some grim news today for mitt romney right before super tuesday primaries. but we start tonight with justice. a symbol of what we are marching against in this country. a shocking racist e-mail from a federal judge who, unless we act, will be back on the bench tomorrow making decisions. montana's top judge, a bush appointee, named richard has apologized for e-mailing a joke suggesting that president obama's late mother had sex with a dog. you heard right. with a dog. at the top of the e-mail, he wrote, quote, i want all of my

friends to feel what i felt when i read this. i hope it touches your heart like it did mine. he later admitted he sent it out because he was, quote, anti-obama. after getting caught, cebull asked an appeals court to review the incident for possible misconduct. he then wrote a letter to president obama directly saying, quote, honestly, i don't know what else i can do. i know what else you can do, judge. you can resign. a man with these opinions has no right to sit in judgment of others. but cebull is due back on the bench tomorrow. many of us have said things we regretted. many of you at home have said things you wish you'd never said. but we don't sit on a federal bench. we don't use federal e-mails to send around racist and misogynist messages and then expect the public to expect that we can importially and fairly

sit in judgment with the federal government's backing. cebull should resign. joining me now is frankie wilmer who is running for congress in november and joe madison, nationally syndicated host of "mornings with madison" on sirius xm radio. representative wilmer, let me start with you. more than 1600 people have already signed an online petition demanding cebull resign. isn't the verdict of the people already clear on this matter? >> well, yes, reverend sharpton. i think it's absolutely clear the judge demonstrated not just poor judgment but in the constitution what's called bad behavior. judges are appointed for life, but the constitution actually says they serve during good behavior. the best judgment he could exercise now is to resign, acknowledging that his conduct does not meet that standard in the constitution. >> now, joe madison, so one does

not think that we're playing politics here, representative wilmer. one of the largest if not the largest newspaper in the montana -- the billings gazette said in an editorial yesterday, quote, from now on, his image will be stained with the ugly truth about the message he distributed. we call on judge cebull to put this awful incident to rest honorably by stepping down. >> you should also point out -- >> joe. >> yes, reverend sharpton, you should also point out that in his apology, he admitted that it was racist. that's also something that he did. and he went ahead and did it anyway. i think today we should call on a joint group of the american bar association and the national

bar association. they should both come together. the national bar association being the african-american group of lawyers. they should join with the parent american bar association. i think that you have vds like ted turner, for example, who is one of the largest, if not the largest land owner in montana along with some other prominent americans that should join us in calling for his resignation. the thing that bothers me -- >> well, i think that that is all well and good but let me ask you this, representative wilmer, what about the fact that the republican candidates for president who has an opinion on everything else and who would be appointing federal judges, if any of them were successful, why aren't we hearing any of them denounce and call for this judge to step down. we hear their opinion on everything else. can you imagine if an obama or

clinton appointed federal judge had said this about a sitting republican president and about his mother that we would not hear the republican candidates for president not come out and call for the removal of that judge? >> yes, reverend sharpton. i young hit the nail on the head. the most disappointing thing, first of all is that people cannot go into this judge's court and expect justice. that's the first casualty here. but the next thing that bothers me, and it's similar to the reaction to rush limbaugh's comments is the failure of republican leadership, conservative leadership to step up and condemn these kinds of statements and activities. >> now joe, when you look at the fact that what she just said was also reflected by the billings gazette editorial saying no litigants or attorneys before him should have to wonder if his judgment is clouded by disgusting ideas conveyed in his e-mail. i also would like to see a

review of all of the cases he's had in front of him. how do we know who he has already made decisions on based on this bias. and then show you what some of the ordinary people in montana had to say. listen to this. >> i was offended by it because he is a judge and he is in a position of authority to put people away every day. >> that e-mail was highly racist, i thought. everybody can screw up and make a mistake but for him to do it from his office, you know, that makes it a little more difficult. >> now when you hear that, joe madison you hear what you are talking about, the legal groups and i'm saying the republican candidates, the elected federal officials in montana, kind of not saying what i think they should. senator tester says, he's concerned. senator baucus says he's disappointed. representative rehberg, concern. none of them calling for his

resignation. >> and this is reflective of the republican party leadership. we're seeing it with obama. these apologies that have no consequences. and i think people ought to understand one other thing. we have a judiciary committee of both the senate and the house. where is the call for an investigation? this judge should be called. there might be room for impeachment in the canons. thafls has to all of this has to be concerned and it's the republicans, for example, that run the house of representatives. i bet you if john conyers was still chairman of the judiciary committee there would have been a hearing on this judge. and keep in mind, he's not just a federal judge. he is the chief federal judge. he is the top honcho. >> in the state of montana. >> that's right. >> i'm glad you raised that, joe. let me -- both of you stay with me a moment. let me bring in paul rothstein, constitutional law professor at

georgetown university. professor, thanks for joining me. >> thank you for asking. >> let me ask you. you are the expert here. what does it take to remove a federal judge from office? >> well it has to be the impeachment process which they tried to do to president clinton. it requires a majority vote in the house of representatives. and then it goes over to the senate and it requires two-thirds of a vote in the senate. an actual trial in the senate. and then two-thirds vote to kick the judge out. so it's very, very difficult. and the standard is very high. this good behavior standard that's in the constitution has been interpreted to be the equivalent of the standard that applies to the president and other government officials. and that is high crimes and misdemeanors which is a very high bar. so it's probably not realistic to expect that the political will, the way the congressmen

are now, would be martialed to do that. but there are other things. complaints that can be made to the judicial board, the judicial commission. but none of it is going to result with him being compelled to leave. there might be some other sanctions, public censure, private censure, maybe some effect on what cases are assigned him. but it's really not going to -- he has to resign. maybe public pressure can make him resign. >> professor, what you are telling me then is the appeals court is reviewing this, but they may not remove him. that you don't know if the senate or the house has the will to move him. if i'm a person in montana, you mean i could stand in front of this guy and he could have demonstrated the judgment that would make the president's mother having had sex with a dog

and the president being a result of that and he has this kind of vice for consenting judgment of me and there's nothing i could do to protect myself? >> it's absolutely awful. now it's such a biased statement. it insults women, insults minorities. he's a litigant who belongs to those groups and other litigants, they're not going to get a fair shake or at least they're not going to accept they get a fair shake. it's important that people have respect and accept the judgment of judges. what they could do is move. they had a case, they could move for recusal of the judge to get the judge thrown off that particular case because of manifest bias. so that is something that they could do. >> well, i mean, this is shocking. we've all said things we've regretted. i've said things i've regretted. but a federal judge to sit in a federal courthouse and use federal e-mail to distribute this, this is alarming, to say

the least. we're not going to there go. state representative frankie wilmer -- >> it's also a very stupid move. >> very stupid. but stupidity is not the end of this. this is the beginning of this. thank you, paul rothstein and joe madison. >> thank you. >> might be my next stop. thank you all for your time. coming up -- rush limbaugh's sorry excuse for an apology has some republicans circling the wagons. but it hasn't changed my mind. rush has got to go. and some dramatic new proof that the gop primary is hurting mitt romney. and helping president obama. "politics nation" is here in montgomery, alabama, all week long. we're marching for voting rights, immigration rights, for education rights and for our civil rights. we're here to talk about what's going on in this country. 47 years ago, people were beaten

with clubs, attacked with teargas and murdered fighting for the try to vote. they were just asking for the right to vote. today, we find ourselves under attack again. voter i.d. laws, suppressed voters. so we're marching here. all the sacrifices and the people that gave their lives for equality. it's not about the past. it's about the future. we're not in the promised land yet, but the same god that brought us across the red sea of selma 47 years ago can bring us across our jordans today. ♪ this little light of mine ♪ i'm gonna let it shine ♪ this little light of mine i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ let it shine ♪ this little light of mine i'm gonna let it shine let it shine let it shine ♪

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rush limbaugh apologized on his show today, and then dug himself deeper. the firestorm against him is growing. another major backer has now pulled out. his sorry excuse is just not working. that's next. ♪ ♪ you do ♪ something to me ♪ that nobody else could do ♪

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welcome back. we're live tonight from near the capitol in montgomery, alabama. the red-hot fire burning under rush limbaugh is only getting hotter. after three days of calling a college student a slut, growing backlash and advertisers bailing, rush limbaugh apologized in a statement over the weekend. here's what he had to say. >> i again sincerely apologize to miss fluke for using those two words to describe her. the apology to her over the weekend was sincere. it was simply for using inappropriate words in a way i never do. >> never using inappropriate words? is that a joke? and then right after his apology, he continued and said this. >> i acted too much like the leftists who despise me.

i descended to their level using names and exaggerations to describe sandra fluke. it's what we have come to know and expect of them but it's way beneath me. >> this is absolutely appalling. he tries to apologize and he manages to insult leftists. but this next part is what really struck me. moments later, he attacked the law student again. >> she is a gender activist and her -- she was at cornell from 1999 to 2003. she got a bs in policy analysis and management and feminist gender and sexuality studies. while she was there, she organized activities centered on the far left feminist and gender equity or equality movements, and she went to a lot of rallies supporting abortion. she doesn't have any expertise in anything we're talking -- >> i am flat out not buying the

excuse. and neither is miss fluke. >> i don't think that a statement like this issued saying that his choice of words was not the best changes anything. and especially when that statement is issued when he's under significant pressure from his sponsors who have begun to pull their support. >> she's right. and the pressure is growing. rush's advertisers literally aren't buying it. 12 advertisers are now gone. they've pulled out from rush's radio show. one of the biggest names on that list is aol. in a statement today, aol said, quote, at aol, our one core value is that we act with integrity. mr. limbaugh's comments are not in line with our values. and the first radio station has dropped him. kpua in hawaii said, quote, it has never been our goal to allow our station to be used for

personal attacks and intolerance. but we still haven't heard from the republican leadership. where are they? where's the outrage? someone show some leadership. and the right wing media is rallying around rush. bill oriley and sean hannity are throwing their support his way. and today the american spectator is calling to rally around rush. red states erik eriksson is also backing rush up. the bottom line is this apology was bogus. he doesn't sound like a guy who is really truly sorry. this is not good enough. he needs to be taken off the air. joining me now is congresswoman carolyn maloney, democrat from new york and strong advocate for women's health. and laura bassett, reporter for the huffington post who has been covering the limbaugh controversy and the war on women for weeks now. thank you both for being here tonight. >> thank you reverend and thank

you for being in montgomery and standing up for social justice and marching for human rights and for bringing this issue up. it's very important. saying i used two inappropriate words is not i'm sorry. >> well, let me start -- that's what i want to ask you. you don't feel that rush's apology was sufficient? >> i did not hear him say i'm sorry, reverend sharpton. all he said is i used two inappropriate words and what's at stake here is whether or not women have access to basic health needs and whether these health needs are respected. i didn't hear any -- >> let me ask you, laura, on what the congresswoman is saying. you would think in something as blatant as this, as incendiary as these characterizations that he used against this young student that you'd hear the republican leadership and the republican candidates stand up.

now john mccain, to his credit, became one of the few republicans willing to criticize rush. let me show you what he said. >> the statements were unacceptable in every way, and should be condemned by everyone no matter what their political leanings are. >> and then to my notice, george will who is a staple in the republican thinkers and writers in this country, he took on rush. let's listen to what he said. >> mr. boehner comes out and says, rush's language was inappropriate. using the salad fork for your entry, that's inappropriate. and rick santorum says, well, what he said was absurd but an entertainer is allowed to be absurd. and it was depressing because what it indicates is that the republican leaders are afraid of rush limbaugh.

they want to bomb iran but they are afraid of rush limbaugh. >> laura, so as george will says, inappropriate is using the wrong salad fork. he challenged the republican leadership and said what they were saying wasn't strong enough. what is the politics of this, laura? are they afraid of rush? >> i think they are afraid of rush. they've been so muted for the most part with the exception of mccain and a little bit scott brown, they've been so muted in their criticism of rush. i think it has to do with the fact that rush is such a huge establishment in the conservative party. you know, missouri right now is fashioning a bust after rush to display in their statehouse. and rush has a captive audience of millions of listeners every single morning. and so they have reason to be afraid of rush. he's very influential in the debate. and so, you know, i don't think it's necessarily right that they are not standing up for what's right here but at the same time, i think they are politically, you know, they have their tails

between their legs. >> now congresswoman, you have been a strong fighter for rights, women's rights and other rights. and what does this is a to women, even women in the republican party if you can disparage in such misogynist terms this young lady just because you disagree what she wants to testify about in front of congress? >> i agree with you, reverend and the silence of the republican leadership with the exception of a few speaks that they condone this type of anti-woman disrespectful rhetoric around women's health needs and women in general. i applaud the many sponsors of mr. limbaugh's show that are voting with their feet. and they are walking away from sponsoring his radio show because they do not want to be associated with this type of disrespect for women.

this type of vile comments and personal attacks. and i believe that the number will be growing, and i hope the american public notices and rewards the companies that have decided to respect women. now laura, i think it's worth saying again, many of us say things that we have regretted. i've said things that i wish i hadn't said. but let's remember, he doubled down three days. when people started coming out criticizing it, he came back again the next day and again the third day. and continued to berate and use these statements against this young lady. it was only in the weekend after major advertisers starting pulling that all of a sudden, we get this so-called apology. >> this is clearly about the bottom line for rush limbaugh. the power of the purse you know? advertisers start pulling out so he says, okay. i'll give you this obligatory

apology. let me reiterate this is about sandra fluke wanting to have too much sex which is -- you know, absolutely couldn't be further from the truth. this is about women's health. and he refuses to acknowledge that. and so his apology is essentially meaningless. >> congresswoman, will all of this anti-woman rhetoric that we've heard from rush and then we've heard throughout the primaries now, where for some reason we've gone from jobs to contraception which was one of the reasons miss fluke was going to be in front of the congress. is all of this going to hurt the republicans with women voters around the country? both moderate and, independent as well as the rest? >> absolutely. i got more response on where are the women. still i'm getting phone calls, e-mails, letters, really protesting this type of disregard and misinformation. they kept saying it was religious freedom. it wasn't. it was insurance and women's

right to health care for basic health care needs. also, they continue to hand out inappropriate, wrong information. this is not about taxpayer money. this is about insurance that people purchase. so the misinformation in addition to the derogatory comments that they are continuing to throw out there is just plain wrong. i applaud those respecting women and respecting women's health and not wanting to support in any way these vile, disrespectful, terrible comments that they have had. and i must tell you, i have lawyers contacting me, reverend sharpton, who would like to, in a pro bono way, represent sandra fluke in a slander case because of the total lies that were put out there about her and the entire health care debate.

the insurance debate. >> wow, that's great. >> everything else. so this story is -- >> well, congresswoman maloney. i'm going to have to hold it there. that's a good message to send to miss fluke and a good thing to say to the public to know that people want to stand up like that for her. thank you, congresswoman maloney, laura bassett. thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you reverend. still ahead, few people are excited about mitt romney, including republicans. our new poll has some stunning numbers for willard. and we're here in montgomery, alabama, all week on the road to justice. the constitution says everyone can vote. 47 years ago, americans were beaten and killed just for wanting to register to vote. today, we're getting threats of intimidation, poll taxes and suppression all over america. we're back here fighting for our future. we're not being beaten on the

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your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. welcome back to "politics nation." last week, we told you that some republicans were ready to jump off the sinking ship known as the gop presidential race. now the poll numbers back that up. a new nbc poll shows 39% of

americans have an unfavorable view of willard. and 70% of americans used negative words to describe the gop race calling it painful, full of poor choices and saying the race is leaving them discouraged, underwhelmed and depressed. and those descriptions are just from republicans. it's doing nothing but helping the president. 50% of americans now approve of how president obama's doing his job. and hands down, the president is beating willard among two key groups. he's trouncing romney with women vote by nearly 20 points. and he's taken a six-point lead with independents. joining me now, former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, now an nbc news political analyst, and steve kornacki, political analyst for salon.com. he's writing about willard's latest endorsements today.

thanks to both of you for joining me tonight. >> sure. >> governor, let me start with you. republicans are starting to fall behind willard. but is it just because he's as good as it's going to get for the gop at this point? >> first of all, reverend, i want to say, i'm not depressed at all. secondly, you are absolutely right. i think they are deciding that romney is the best that they've got. and it's been a sorry choice. it's been a spectacle. the republican brand has been hurt badly by the congress. republicans in congress. and now it's been brutalized by this presidential primary season. however, having said that, you've heard me say before there is a little bit of a reset that takes place come the conventions. the convention nominating speeches and then that ten weeks into the election. a little bit of a reset. so we can't rest on our laurels.

there are two key primaries our viewers should watch -- tennessee and ohio. if romney can win both of them, i think he basically wins the nomination. he wins tennessee he wins a southern state and the poll shows he's close there. he wins ohio, he wins another big industrial state and then i think he becomes inevitable and you'll see more falling in line behind him. >> now, steve, will you look at the polling numbers, his image right now is worse than almost all recent candidates who went on to win their party's nomination. his favorables are 28. unfavorable, 39. mccain's was 47 favorable, 27 unfavorable. kerry, 42 favorable, 30 unfavorable. george bush was 43 favorable, 32 unfavorable. bob dole, 35 favorable, 39 unfavorable. so the only person who have a higher unfavorable rating than romney was bill clinton in april of 1992.

how, despite the fact that you are writing about he's getting some big republican endorsements, how does he walk back from this kind of lopsided favorable/unfavorable standing with the american public? >> well, yeah. it's not so much about what romney can do to kind guest back from that. it's what can happen sort of around mitt romney that might help him do that. and that's why the example of bill clinton you cited there is worth remembering. it's hard to remember now when you think of bill clinton as the master politician, you know, one of the best ever. but at this point, this exact point 20 years ago, we were talking about -- people were talking about what a terrible candidate bill clinton was. how terribly bruised he had been by the process. all the scandals around them. gennifer flowers and all of that. clinton was a talented politician, is a much more talented politician than romney. but what changed for clinton that year, may, june, july,

august, the unemployment rate really spiked. it went from around 7.2%, 7.3% to up near 8%. and that really changed the way people looked at the election. they were suddenly a lot more open to the idea of voting for the opposition party. a lot more hostile to the incumbent president. we haven't reached that point yet. if something like that happened with the unemployment rate now we'd see a similar effect. >> i think that's a good point. the fact that the republicans were building a lot of their presidential campaign hopes around the economy going bad and it seems that the economy is headed in the right direction. in fact, according to this poll, 57% of americans feel the economy is going in the right direction. so i think that part of the problem that romney's having and the rest is that they ended up losing their message and the rationale for their race against president obama. >> it's true. but as was pointed out by steve, it can turn around.

i mean, with gas prices continuing to stay high. if the economy dips. if unemployment spikes up. so many things can happen. it's a long time until late october. so again, my message to democrats is don't think this is over by any means. if mitt romney and his convention acceptance speech knocks it out of the park and, you know, he can do that, he's good in debates. and every once in a while makes a great speech. i think it changes the dynamic a little bit. he's going to have a little bit of a chance to redefine himself for that big group of americans who haven't paid attention. we all think that everyone is paying attention to every word we say. but the two-thirds of americans haven't really focused on this presidential election yet. >> that's funny because the last speech i saw him make the night he won in michigan it was like he wasn't paying attention. but, steve, let me ask you, as we head into super tuesday tomorrow, the only race -- the only tight race tomorrow seems

to be ohio. 34% for romney, 31 santorum. and tennessee. does romney pull these out? if he does is it a wrap for the nomination as governor rendell seems to be implying? >> yeah, i tend to agree with that. what's been telling, and i think a little surprising to me is how much of a bounce romney got out of that win in michigan last week. you gauk his victory speech. wasn't much of a victory speech. didn't look like much of a victory. only three points in his native state. but the republican party and the political world has responded to that as if it was this big sort of emphatic, momentous achievement on his part. brought out some new endorsements. significantly improves his position in ohio and tennessee. i footbabelieve if he wins ohio tennessee, winning in the south, that's supposed to be his weakest region by far. i think this thing does pretty much end then. >> well, governor rendell and steve kornacki, thanks for your time tonight. >> sure.

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welcome back to a special edition of "politics nation." live from montgomery, alabama. today we were joined by thousands of people, including children marching to protect the right to vote. here in alabama, lawmakers passed a voter i.d. law that this requires -- they passed it last june requiring voters to present photo i.d. at the polls. alabama is one of 31 states pushing voter i.d. laws that i think are an effort to suppress the vote. joining me now is state representative -- we'll be right back. let me take a break. gums g g g

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we're back on "politics nation" with state representative jay love, republican from alabama. he voted last year for the state's new voter i.d. law. thank you for joining me, representative, and let me ask you. how do you justify alabama's new voter laws when widespread fraud just doesn't exist. >> well, i'll disagree with you inspect the last three years we've had three people convicted of voter fraud in alabama. two in historically black counties, our majority black counties. and what i am trying to do as a state representative is protect the sanctity of that vote. >> representative, you are cracking jokes, right? three people in three years. that's one a year. how many millions of people voted in those last two years. >> i don't know what the -- >> widespread fraud? >> if you are the person who has been on the receiving end of that fraud, it's something very important. >> absolutely. and they should be prosecuted. but to change a law that could affect millions of people for three people? >> absolutely if in the last

three years where you've had one particular county that has about 10,000 people, over 30% of the votes cast in perry county are absentee ballots. there was a circuit clerk convicted in perry county of voter fraud. that's extremely important. people have died for the right to vote. and the value of that vote. and so i'm doing everything i can to make sure that the value of that vote is -- >> died for the right to vote. they died for the right for people to vote. thousands of those people can't vote because of three people in the last three years? >> i don't know of anybody that will be denied the right to vote. >> i'll give you the brennan report that asked 5 million people that may not be able to vote. that have historically voted. disproportionate amount minority. because they don't have state i.d., they don't drive or have passports. >> we provide a free state i.d. for those who don't have a driver's license. so there is no --

>> and they have to go and use all kinds of means to come down and try to acquire it. let me ask you this. we clearly don't see widespread fraud so you and i don't agree on that. why is the state suing the attorney general against section 5 of the voting rights act? what is wrong with that? you don't want to be -- people to be able to vote without special voter i.d. now. don't you understand why people are marching here? there's clearly an anti-voting rights sentiment here. >> i disagree with you completely. you'd have to ask the attorney general why he's suing the federal government on the preclearance. >> do you agree with him? >> we are a section 5 -- >> do you agree with the attorney general? >> i do agree. >> then i'm asking you. >> why do you agree with him? >> we have to get precleared are go changes we have in election law. we've gone ahead and sued to make sure that we can get a verdict or a decision made before the election in 2014. and the obama justice department

will be the ones that determine that. >> but you are suing because you don't want to go through preclearance on the voting rights act. >> we're trying to get it done as quickly as possible. the obama justice department has shown a willingness to drag their feet on issues like this. >> so you're not saying that you don't object to preclearance. you just want it cleared quicker. >> that is correct. >> so you do agree with that. so you disagreed with the attorney general then. >> no, i think that it should be done as quickly as possible. >> but the attorney general is suing as are seven other states saying they don't want to have preclearance. you don't want preclearance on voting rights act. you want people to get i.d.s. there's a pattern here disturbing. >> well, i disagree. >> you said people died. people died to get voting rights. >> they want to make sure the value of their vote is protected. i take that very seriously. >> yes, i do, too. >> and i would think especially african-americans would be screaming for this law to make sure that the value of their vote is protected and we are doing that -- >> we are screaming.

that's why we want the same i. defendant when reagan ran, nixon ran, clinton ran. why are we going to change now. representative jay love, thank you, though. i think you did a wonderful thing of coming out here and welcoming me to the state. or i shouldn't have said that. your constituents are watching. thank you very much. finally tonight, 47 years ago, dr. martin luther king jr. led thousands of people in the voting rights march here in montgomery. we're fighting back this week. here's the sights and sounds from the day that i will never forget. >> there are those who are trying to push us back. but we're not going back. >> we have to reflect. we come here to be renewed. we come here to be inspired. >> 47 years ago, i remember looking at my parents' faces. they were riveted watching the television set. they were so proud of the men and women who walked across that bridge on behalf of each and every one of us who are here

today. >> are we ready to march? are we ready to march? ♪ this little light of mine i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ this little light of mine >> god, we thank you. we thank you for giving our leaders 47 years ago the strength to take blows for us and to inspire us. >> i would rather die on the highways of alabama than make a butchery of my conscience. >> we're not being beaten on the bridge, but we're being blocked at the ballot box. >> i have been voting for 60 years. >> it's a tragedy. they are attacking the voters like they are. >> a voteless people is a hopeless people. they're not a first class citizen until they become a registered voter. >> we're being profiled in the

highways. with the immigration laws. >> we are one. we are united. we are one nation. and we are going to keep moving america forward. >> we are not in the promised land yet, but the same god that brought us across the red sea of selma 47 years ago can bring us across our jordans today. we know if we have the faith, you have the power. we are here because there's a problem. over 30 states are trying to change voter i.d. laws. the i.d. that we've used all of our lives all of a sudden doesn't work anymore. why? there's no widespread fraud. there's clear evidence that more people will be disenfranchised by the millions than a couple who did something that have been prosecuted. why? because the voting rights a